


Front Page News

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: The High School Series [5]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Angst, Chloe gets the scoop, Chloe's coffee addiction, F/M, Fighting, Gen, Kissing, Lionel Luthor is a dick, Ollie is very lonely, Retaliation, Sweet, The way to Chloe's heart is through caffeine, Unofficial First Dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: He looked around, stunned by the amount of damage to the office. Every computer was broken, keyboards and monitors smashed. Her Wall of Weird had a huge red “x” through it that looked like it had been done with spray paint. Papers and pictures were torn and scattered all over the place. “What the hell happened?”“The article happened,” she said, trying for a smirk, “I guess I hit a nerve.”
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: The High School Series [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728691
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Oliver had picked up a copy of the Torch early that morning, unable to contain a smirk as he read the headline on the front page: Footballs Players Admit to Using Meteor-Rock Based Steroids to Enhance Game Performance. He was looking forward to seeing Chloe, because he imagined she was probably in a good mood since she’d gotten her story, and partially thanks to him. Not that he was going to insinuate that she owed him anything. He was just hoping she would give him a chance.

He was halfway down the hall when he paused outside the Torch’s office, eyes widening when he saw the broken glass from the door’s window shattered on the floor. The door itself was cracked open.

Chloe tensed when she heard the door and turned around quickly, then paused when she saw it was him and let out her breath, “hey.”

He looked around, stunned by the amount of damage to the office. Every computer was broken, keyboards and monitors smashed. Her Wall of Weird had a huge red “x” through it that looked like it had been done with spray paint. Papers and pictures were torn and scattered all over the place. “What the hell happened?”

“The article happened,” she said, trying for a smirk, “I guess I hit a nerve.”

“Those football douches did all this?” His eyes were still wide.

“That’s my best guess,” she said, holding her breath then pointing at the words on the wall, ‘lying whore.' “They seem angry.”

His eyes narrowed at the graffiti and he shook his head. “What a bunch of shit.”

“Welcome to Smallville, where everything is handled with violence.” She said, then sighed quietly.

He frowned, shaking his head. “This isn’t the first time it’s happened?”

“To this level, yes,” she told him, then shrugged, “I’ve received a lot of threats before, but nothing like this.”

“Are you all right?” He looked at her with worried brown eyes.

“Yeah,” she nodded a little, straightening, “just trying to decide how to break the news to the principle.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“I guess I didn’t consider the consequences,” she told him, “it might shut down the paper for the whole year.”

“You think so?” His frown deepened.

“If the school budget can’t fix it,” she nodded, “the money always goes to football anyway.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. “Do you want some help cleaning this place up?”

Chloe hesitated then shook her head, “I’ll just lock it up and come back after school, don’t want to give them the satisfaction.”

“All right.” His voice dropped a little. “Sorry this happened.”

“Not your fault,” she told him, picking up her purse then heading for the door.

“I know. That doesn’t make it suck any less.”

“I wanted to expose them,” she said, turning to look at him again, “this just proves even more that it’s the truth.”

“Which we already knew,” he murmured, watching as she locked the door.

“We did,” she said, “but even with all the evidence, a lot of people will still believe them.”

He sighed softly, shaking his head a little. “Then you’ve done all you can do.”

“Thank you for all your help,” she said sincerely, noticing that he seemed upset about this too.

“You’re welcome,” he told her just as sincerely.

Chloe smiled a little. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah. In bio,” he agreed, gazing at her for a moment.

“Yeah,” she nodded, holding her breath.

He nodded, too, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “Okay. See you.” He reluctantly moved around her and headed toward his class.

She watched him for a moment then took a deep breath and started toward the principal’s office. That was going to be a fun conversation.

* * *

The next afternoon after school, Oliver found himself driving to the Talon. He hadn’t seen Chloe much the last couple days, and he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. He had no idea where she lived, and sure, he could have asked Clark, but he’d barely seen him either. And no way was he asking Lex. So he figured his best bet was the place that had the best coffee in town. He climbed out of his car and headed inside, glancing around, not terribly surprised to see her sitting alone in the corner.

He made his way to the counter, ordered a coffee and an iced tea, and then moved to sit down across from her, setting the coffee in front of her.

Chloe looked up from her laptop and arched her eyebrows, half expecting to see Lana or Clark there, but definitely not Oliver. As far as she knew, he didn’t ever come to the Talon. “Hi.” She greeted, frowning a little.

“Your words say hi, but the frown on your face doesn’t indicate you’re happy to see me,” he told her.

“No,” she shook her head, closing her laptop, “just surprised.”

“Good surprise or just...surprised surprise?”

She hesitated then smiled, shrugging, “you seem to have brought me coffee, it can’t be a bad surprise.”

“I even got sugar and cream in it this time,” he told her with a small smile.

“Thank you,” she said, arching her eyebrows once again in surprise, “how did you know?”

“I paid attention,” he admitted, shrugging.

She paused at that, looking at him for a moment then pulling the coffee cup closer to herself, “thanks.”

“Sure.” He watched her back for a few seconds. “So how are things going?”

“Okay,” she breathed, sitting back against her chair. “You?”

“Kinda bored,” he confessed, taking a drink of his iced tea.

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” she sighed a little, “what do you normally do after school? When you don’t have detention, that is,” she said, teasing a little.

One corner of his mouth tugged upwards into a smirk. “I don’t know. I mean it’s been so long since I haven’t had detention...”

“I guess that’s what you get for behaving, boredom,” she told him, smirking back.

“See, now you understand why I spend so much of my free time in detention.”

“Oh, I do,” she nodded, “it’s Smallville.”

“So what about you? Ever had detention, Chloe?” Now there was a hint of teasing to his voice.

“Me?” She blinked innocently, shaking her head, “I would never do something that could land me in detention.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Never?”

She grinned a little and shook her head, but didn’t say anything.

“Huh.” He grinned back involuntarily, leaning his elbows on the table, his eyes bright.

She leaned forward, shrugging, “I don’t usually get caught,” she said, grinning a little.

He laughed softly at that admission. “And I bet when you do, you can generally talk your way right out of it.”

Chloe considered that for a moment, then nodded, “I guess so... can’t really think of a situation where I had to though.”

“Not even a speeding ticket?” His eyes widened a little in feigned surprise.

She laughed at that, “have you seen what I used drive? I couldn’t get a speeding ticket if I wanted to until very recently.”

“But now it’s a possibility.” He grinned again, raising his eyebrows.

“It is, but not likely I will be the one the cops will pay attention to with Lex around,” she teased.

“Well, now Lex has a little competition in that arena.” He winked at her, sitting back in his chair and taking a drink of his tea.

“So you drive like he does?” She asked, watching him.

“Once in awhile we actually do have something in common.” He shrugged.

Chloe watched him for a moment, “I think you have more in common than you’re willing to admit,” she said, “and I mean that as a compliment.”

He paused at that. “Like what?” He shook his head.

She hesitated at that, then shrugged, “similar lifestyles and background.”

“We both come from money.” He shrugged, too, looking down at the table. “That’s about the only similarity I see, personally.”

Chloe nodded a little, “I think it’s too bad you two don’t get along.”

“I don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” he admitted.

“On your part, or on his part?” She asked, because as far as she could tell, Lex seemed to want to make sure of that more than Oliver.

Oliver pursed his lips. “Probably both.”

Her eyes narrowed a little at that, mostly with curiosity, “what happened?”

He looked away for a moment. “I wasn’t exactly nice to him when we were in school together before.”

“Was it all on you?” She asked, lowering her voice.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “Me and my friends. Yeah.”

“And Lex just let you?” She frowned, “doesn’t sound like him.”

“He was...” He considered his words for a long moment. “Small for his age. An easy target.” He glanced up at her. “And he didn’t have a lot of friends.”

“Oh,” she nodded a little, pursing her lips together. She was pretty convinced that Lex’s story about the murder hadn’t been entirely accurate but Oliver seemed to feel guilty. She couldn’t help but wonder what had really happened.

“So, like I said. I don’t think there’s much chance we’ll ever be friends.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, glancing at him, “I guess some things you can’t get over.”

“Exactly,” he said quietly, looking away.

She watched him closely for a moment, “so what are you doing today?”

“No plans,” he admitted.

Chloe cocked her head at that and nodded, “I was hoping you could help me figure out what normal people do after school...”

He glanced up at her, arching his eyebrows.

“What?” She asked, frowning a little.

“I did mention that mostly I just get into trouble, right?”

“Well, that’s better than being bored?” She said with a shrug.

He smirked faintly at that, nodding in agreement, and rising to his feet. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” She asked, a little confused.

“We’re gonna go have some fun.”

“Okay,” Chloe cocked her head, even as she stood up too, “I didn’t mean you had to entertain me.”

“If I’m entertaining both of us, that’s okay though, right?”

She considered him for a moment then nodded, “for now, I guess I need to find out what your actual plan is first...”

“Maybe it’s a surprise,” he told her, arching his eyebrows.

Her eyes narrowed a little at that, but she reached for her laptop and slid it inside her bag, “I’ll let you get away with it this time, just goes to show how bored I am.”

“Well, deep down, we both know you’re dying to know what I have in store for you,” he teased.

“And you’re hoping it will be a good surprise,” she smirked, sliding her bag over her shoulder.

“It will be.” There was more than a hint of confidence in his voice. “Do you have a curfew?” he questioned as he headed toward the door.

She grinned a little at that then shook her head, “not really.”

“Excellent.” He grinned back at her and held the door open, making his way to his car. “Hop in.”

She eyed his car for a second, then made her way inside, “let’s see if you’re as bad as Lex,” she said, pulling on the seat belt.

Oliver smirked at that, fastening his own seat belt after he climbed behind the wheel. Then he started the engine and zoomed out of the parking space and down the street.

She set her things on the floor and arched her eyebrows, “so can you tell me now where we’re going?”

“Nope.” He grinned again, pressing a little harder on the gas pedal as he sped them out of Smallville.

“Okay, I believe you’re just as bad as Lex, you can slow down.” She said, arching her eyebrows.

He chuckled softly at her comment, slowing down just a little, but still keeping the car above the speed limit.

“Thanks,” she said sarcastically, “how long is the drive?”

“Awhile,” he admitted, glancing at her sideways.

Her eyes narrowed a little, “not informative enough, give me something to work with.”

“You’ll enjoy yourself?”

“Promises...” she said, “for all I know, you’re kidnapping me right now.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Okay, first off, you did get into my car with absolutely no coercion,” he pointed out. “Secondly, you said you wanted me to show you what normal people do after school.”

“Ha,” she shook her head, “I said I was hoping you could give me ideas, I never asked you to show me.”

“Do you want me to turn around?”

“Now I’m too curious to see what you’re planning,” she said, arching her eyebrows.

He smirked at that. “That’s what I thought.”

“So you’re playing to my weakness...” she said, smirking a little.

“I have no idea what you’re saying,” he responded with feigned innocence.

“Uh huh, just like you have no idea you’re way above the speed limit, right?”

“I’m not sure I’d say twenty miles is way above the speed limit. Maybe forty or fifty would be...”

“As long as you don’t get pulled over and delay my finding out where we’re headed.” She said, leaning back against the seat.

He laughed and concentrated on the road once more.

* * *

Chloe figured out where they were going about halfway through the trip, considering that the only destination after Grandville was Metropolis on that road. But she still didn’t know the specifics of where they were going.

She looked out the window as Oliver drove them through downtown Metropolis, “you better not be taking me to see the sharks.”

He snorted, glancing at her sideways. “I’m not really into football,” he reminded her.

“I know,” she grinned a little, “just warning you.”

“How do you feel about music?” he questioned, arching his eyebrows.

“I like it a lot better than football...” she said, arching her eyebrows back.

“Oh, good.” He grinned.

“Is there a concert I haven’t heard about?” She asked, watching him closely.

“No, not a concert,” he admitted, nodding toward a sign up ahead that read Club Xanadu.

Chloe arched her eyebrows as she looked at the sign, “we’re going dancing?” She asked, glancing at him again.

“It’s the newest club in the city. Just opened last weekend,” he told her.

“I heard,” she said, glancing at him, “my cousin has been trying to get in since.”

“Why don’t you call her?” he suggested.

“She would love that,” she told him, “but the general is back in town and he heard about her missing the first week of school, he’s not exactly happy with her.”

“The general?” he echoed.

“Her dad,” she grinned, “he’s in the military.”

“Oh.” He grimaced a little. “Sounds like a fun guy.”

“He is, if you like rules and curfews,” Chloe said, arching her eyebrows.

“Not so much,” he responded.

“Yeah I don’t think you two would get along,” she said, smiling a little, “but he’s not that bad.”

“Are you and your cousin close?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “we kinda grew up together, until Dad and I moved to Smallville, anyway.”

He wondered what that had been like, growing up around family. “Sounds nice.”

“It wasn’t too bad,” she nodded, “so can you just get us in? No fake IDs required?”

“No fake IDs required,” he assured her.

“Nice,” she nodded, then ran her fingers through her hair, pausing as she looked down her clothes. She was definitely not dressed for the occasion.

He glanced at her, as well. “Don’t worry. You’re fine.”

She looked over at him, surprised he was able to read her that easily, “don’t have much of a choice, anyway, right?”

“Well, there are some shops up the street,” he offered, smiling a little. “If you’d feel more comfortable.”

Chloe cocked her head at him, “right.”

“Up to you.”

“I think I can handle one night of being under-dressed, besides, this isn’t Pretty Woman.” She told him.

He blinked at that. “I wasn’t suggesting it was.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean the prostitute part,” she said, pausing.

His eyes widened ever-so-slightly at that. “Then what did you mean...?”

“The whole shopping part...” she said, uncomfortably, then shook her head, “we should go in.”

“Wait, so your friends aren’t allowed to buy you gifts?” he asked uncertainly. “Like, not even for birthdays and Christmas?”

Chloe glanced over at him again, “this isn’t the same thing, besides, you already drove us all the way over here because I was bored.”

“Maybe I wanted to,” Oliver responded, pulling the car into a parking place.

“And you just decided to drag me along?” She asked.

“I didn’t see you protesting.”

“I’m not saying I’m protesting,” she said with a shrug.

“What are you saying?” he asked, honestly feeling more than a tad confused.

“That you don’t have to give me any other presents when you already volunteered to help with my boredom.” She sighed a little, “should we go in?” She said again.

“Yeah, let’s get going,” he agreed, reluctantly opening his car door.

Chloe pulled her phone out of her purse, hesitating before removing her jacket, at least this wasn’t the worst choice of tops she could have made. Then got out of the car too.

He met her at the front of the car, smiling at her and offering her his arm. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling back at him and taking his arm.

* * *

Hours later, Oliver and Chloe made their way out of the club, both a little more buzzed than two underage teens should have been. Raking a hand through his hair, he flashed her a bright smile. “See? That was fun, right?”

“Yeah,” she grinned, feeling probably more relaxed than she should, “thanks for bringing me.”

“My pleasure,” he said honestly, twirling her around on the sidewalk.

Chloe laughed as she turned to face him, shaking her head a little.

His eyes were bright as he laughed, too. “I had fun, too.”

She smiled up at him and nodded a little, “good,” she said, “much better than Smallville, isn’t it?”

“Way better,” he agreed without hesitation. “We should do this more often.”

“That’d be fun,” she nodded, “also better than any high school party we could go to.”

“Definitely.” He smiled once more. “What now, though? I think we’re both a little too drunk to drive.”

“There’s a diner we can go to,” she said, pursing her lips together and looking to one side, then to the other then back and pointing, “that way.”

“Diner it is.” He draped his arm around her shoulders, tugging her close to his side.

Chloe leaned into him a little, “have you spent a lot of time here?”

“Nope, not at all, really. One weekend when Lionel and Lex came to get me.”

“Do you know anyone here?” She asked, cocking her head to look up at him.

“Just you,” he admitted. “But my name opens a lot of doors.” As she’d been witness to earlier that evening when they’d gotten into the club.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” she smirked.

He smirked back. “Sometimes being infamous doesn’t totally suck.”

“I bet there’s a lot about it that doesn’t suck,” she shrugged, looking up at him.

“You’d be surprised.”

“Tell me?” She asked curiously, watching him as they walked.

“Expectations, to begin with. Everyone who knew your parents expects you to be just like them because you share their last name and some DNA. And it’s not that they weren’t good people or anything. I mean, they definitely were.” His parents had been all about doing charity work in addition to running Queen Industries. And they’d been very modest about their contributions. Humble, even. “It’s just I barely knew them and people still think I need to be an exact copy, you know?”

“Yeah,” her face fell a little and she nodded, “that must be hard on you, especially.”

“And then, I’m always in the news. Even for stupid things that don’t really matter at all. Like, can you believe I made the headlines once because there was a rip in my shirt sleeve?” He shook his head. “I can’t even make this stuff up.”

“Oh, I believe you, I read entertainment news every now and then,” she said, shaking her head.

“And then there’s the people who think they know you because they’ve read all the stuff that’s been written about you, or seen all the videos. It’s really kind of sucky. Makes it hard to get to know someone for real.”

“Because they expect you to be all the things they read about,” she nodded, pursing her lips together as she watched him.

“Right. And they’re not generally willing to get to know you as an actual person because it might go against something they’ve seen or heard or read.”

“So do you have any close friends?” She asked with a frown.

“Used to. Haven’t seen ‘em in years though,” he admitted with a shrug.

“Why not?” She asked quietly, feeling bad for him, more than she already did.

“Well, when Dr. Swann pulled me out of Excelsior, we just didn’t really stay in touch. I mean, I was across the country.” He pursed his lips.

“Who is that?” She frowned once more, she didn’t think she had heard about that person.

“My guardian.” He paused, glancing at her. “I mean, the one before Lionel took me in.”

“So you weren’t living with him like you are with Lionel?”

“Well, I was. Before and after Excelsior. Until Lionel.”

“And where is he now?” She asked, turning around a corner.

“Dead,” he answered, not looking at her as they walked toward the diner. “Car accident.”

“Oh,” her face fell at that, “I’m sorry, Oliver.”

He shrugged a little. “Just one of those things, right?”

“Doesn’t seem fair...” she told him, looking away.

“I think that’s just life.”

She hesitated then wrapped her arm around him too, “maybe you can at least have some friends now,” she said, smiling a little, “and I don’t mean jocks and cheerleaders, you can’t trust them.”

“Oh, I don’t,” he admitted without hesitation, looking down at her as they paused outside the diner.

“At least you know that, that’s a good start.” She said, looking up at him.

“I’m sure there’s a lot I don’t know about you,” he told her, lifting a hand to her cheek and gently tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

She cocked her head a little and nodded, “but you should know I’m not going to backstab you like they would.”

“No?” His voice dropped a little as he met her eyes.

She shook her head, looking up at him and arching her eyebrows a little.

“Good to know,” he whispered, dropping his head a little and brushing his nose lightly over hers before kissing her softly on the corner of her mouth.

Chloe held her breath for a second then turned her head, kissing him full on the lips, but just as softly, her heart beating fast.

He returned the kiss without hesitation, letting his fingers ghost over her cheek.

She leaned into his touch and lifted a hand to his side, deepening the kiss just a little. She had been wanting to kiss him all night, she just didn’t think he’d want to, much less try for it.

After a long moment, Oliver rested his forehead against hers, holding his breath as he pulled away to look at her.

She looked up at him and smiled, her face growing warm.

He smiled back, reaching down and taking her hand, lacing their fingers together. “Come on,” he murmured.

She nodded a little and smiled more, “yeah, are you hungry?”

“Yeah, I am. How about you?”

“Yeah, and thirsty,” she admitted.

“Let me guess. Coffee,” he teased, leading her inside the diner.

“I don’t think I like being that predictable,” she said, grinning up at him.

He grinned back, his eyes bright as he squeezed her hand lightly. He was starting to think that moving to Kansas wasn’t so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Chloe had actually woken up in a good mood the next morning, despite the very little sleep she had gotten, she had had a really good time the previous night. Her dad had been asleep when she drove up to the house, after Oliver dropped her off by the Talon so she could pick up her car.

But by the time she made it down the stairs to have breakfast, AKA a huge mug of coffee, and to read the news, her good mood evaporated. There had been nothing in the Planet, but in the Inquisitor as well as in the Ledger, on the very front page, pictures of her and Oliver. There were pictures of them inside the club, pictures of them kissing by the diner and pictures of them inside the diner, eating.

As soon as she saw them, she grabbed the papers and left for school, knowing that if she got there early enough, there was a much smaller chance of her being seen.

It had worked. She had managed to hide in the still destroyed Torch, but even as she heard voices starting to bubble around the hallways, she felt herself getting more and more tense.

Oliver didn’t make it a practice to read the various newspapers of a morning--or ever, if he could avoid it. He was standing beside Chloe’s locker a few minutes before homeroom, frowning a little as he waited. Usually she was early.

When the noise became louder she reached for her phone, pursing her lips together, she’d been hoping to talk to Oliver before class, but she really shouldn’t be expecting him to call.

When the first warning bell rang, his smile slipped a little and he raked a hand through his hair, pushing himself away from her locker and heading toward class. He’d have to catch up with her later.

She sighed and leaned back against the couch, planning on being at least a couple of minutes late.

“Where is Chloe?” Clark asked as he caught up with Oliver a moment later, also coming from her locker.

“Good question,” he told the other man, arching his eyebrows.

“You should know,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

He frowned at that, shaking his head a little. “I haven’t seen her last night,” he said in confusion.

Clark’s eyes narrowed a little, “so the papers are lying?”

Oliver paused, cocking his head to the side. “What papers?”

“The Ledger said the two of you were in Metropolis last night,” he said, “where is she?”

He blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out what Clark was talking about when his stomach suddenly tightened. “There was an article about us in the Ledger?”

“Yes,” he said, “and now I can’t find her.”

He pursed his lips, thinking. “I dropped her off at her place a little after two this morning. Are you sure she came to school?”

“Her car is outside,” Clark said, shaking his head.

“She’s probably at the Torch then. What did the article say?”

“You can read it at the library,” Clark told him, “I’ll go find her,” he said, walking past him.

“I’ll check the Torch,” he answered, shaking his head as he caught up with him.

Clark stopped at that and turned to look at Oliver, “maybe you should stay away from her.”

He stopped, too, staring at Clark for a moment and trying to decide if he was serious. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re getting her into trouble.”

“Look, I don’t know what you read, Clark, but we didn’t get into any trouble,” he said honestly.

“You took her drinking in Metropolis, and everyone knows,” he said, frowning, “and you probably drove her back after drinking, you put her in danger.”

“We had like two drinks each. And I was stone cold sober when I drove us back to Smallville,” he said evenly, eyes narrowing at the accusation.

“It still could get her in trouble, especially with her dad.” Clark frowned, “I don’t want Chloe getting hurt.”

He blew out a breath. “I don’t want that either. But I’ll figure this out.” He moved past the other man, heading down the hall toward the Torch’s office.

Since things seemed to be quiet enough outside, Chloe picked up her things and with a deep breath, opened the door to the office, stopping when she saw him walking up to it.

He paused when he caught sight of her, too. “Hi.”

She held her breath and looked at him for a moment, “hi.”

“Clark just told me about the paper,” he said hesitantly.

Chloe nodded, taking a step back into the Torch. Oliver followed her inside, shutting the door behind him quietly and turning to face her, taking a deep breath. “Have you seen it?” She asked, arching her eyebrows.

He shook his head a little. “Clark was pretty unhappy, though, so I can only guess.”

Chloe reached inside her purse and pulled out a copy of the Ledger, holding it out to him, “this one isn’t as bad as the Inquisitor, though.”

He took the paper from it, leaning against the door as he scanned the article, pausing when he saw the pictures they’d printed of the two of them kissing outside the diner. “Oh.”

“I left the Inquisitor at home, since most people here don’t get it, I didn’t want to risk it.” She told him.

“How bad was it?” He swallowed hard, glancing up at her. At least what the Ledger had printed had been truthful.

“The pictures are the same,” she said, “the article isn’t good.”

“Well, the Inquisitor is a junk paper,” he pointed out.

“I know,” she told him, “I don’t care.”

He winced. “Right.” He handed her back the copy of the Ledger.

She took it and slid it back in her purse, “Lionel hasn’t seen it?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, glancing up at her.

Chloe shrugged a little, “not much to do, I guess.”

“You’re not upset?”

“I’m not happy about it.” She said sincerely, “but I know how it works and I know you don’t have any control over it.”

He relaxed a little at that, nodding. “At least it’s a good picture,” he said lightly, offering her a smile.

She smiled a little then shook her head, “you probably need to be careful now, Oliver,” she said, turning serious.

“How so?” he asked uncertainly.

“You’re a minor and you were caught drinking,” she said, “I don’t know if they’d have enough proof to use it against you, but if they suddenly decide Lionel is an unfit guardian...”

“Then I wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore,” he finished, winking. “Don’t worry about me.”

“But you don’t know who you’d be dealing with,” she said with a frown.

“The only thing bad about Lionel not being my guardian would be not seeing you anymore,” he told her quietly.

Chloe paused at that but shook her head as she looked away, “I just don’t want you getting into anymore trouble than you probably already are.”

“I appreciate that,” he said honestly.

She looked back at him and took a deep breath, “we should probably get to class.”

“Yeah, probably,” he agreed, hesitating a moment, then kissing her cheek. “I’ll see you in bio?”

She almost winced at the reminder that they had a class together, “yeah,” she nodded, adjusting her purse over her shoulder.

He noticed her reaction, feeling his stomach tighten. “All right. See you.” He turned and headed out the door.

* * *

During lunch break, she made her way back to the Torch, so far, she had heard comments, loud whispers and some angry cheerleaders calling her a slut, probably because they had been expecting Oliver to chase after them instead, and she managed to ignore that just fine.

But just as she was getting to the Torch, her phone rang and it had been her dad, he didn’t get angry with her easily and he hadn’t exactly been angry when he told her Lionel had asked he met with him to talk about her, mostly confused, and then when she explained the likely reason why Lionel would schedule that meeting, the disappointment in his voice had been so much worse than anger.

Of course she hadn’t even considered he could get in trouble with his boss because of her and Oliver, but now that she knew it was a possibility, she planned on doing whatever it took to fix it.

Lex leaned against the doorframe of the Torch office, an eyebrow arched as he watched her check her messages. “You’re the talk of the school today.”

She turned around to face him and arched her eyebrows, “don’t underestimate me, Lex. Talk of the town.”

He arched his other eyebrow, as well. “Touche.”

Chloe shook her head a little and reached to turn on her laptop. “And apparently your dad wants to talk to my dad about it. Do you happen to know what he’s planning?”

That actually seemed to surprise him. “No, I don’t,” he said honestly.

She nodded a little and sighed, “let me know if you find out.”

“Sure.” He shrugged, watching her for another moment before smirking. “You do remember I warned you about this, right?”

Chloe gave him a look at that, “it wasn’t his fault, Lex.”

“No? So his lips just fell onto yours by accident?”

She frowned at that, “last I checked, kissing someone does not automatically equal front page news.”

“It does when you’re Oliver Queen,” he reminded her. “The guy’s nothing but trouble, Chloe.”

“It’s not like we’re dating, Lex. It happened once.” Or one night anyway, “despite what the Inquisitor says, I’m not trying to get him to marry me so I can go after his money as soon as he turns eighteen.”

His expression softened a little at that. “I know that,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re not that kind of person. Doesn’t mean he’s not trouble.”

“Thank you,” she said sharply but sincerely, then shook her head, “I think it’s more like trouble follows him around. We really weren’t doing anything big last night, I don’t even know how they found us.”

“Well, like you said. Trouble follows him around. I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” Lex told her. “He’s not a good guy, Chloe. You should be more careful.” He gave her a look before heading toward the door once more, pausing and narrowing his eyes when he almost ran right into Oliver. “Speak of the devil. Literally.”

Oliver rolled his eyes at that, moving aside to let him pass without saying a word.

Chloe pursed her lips together and took a deep breath, considering she was trying to use the Torch to avoid people, it certainly seemed to be counterproductive.

When Lex headed away, Oliver stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “Awkward.”

“Things usually get that way when the two of you are in the same room.” She said, watching him.

“True,” he agreed, letting out a breath as he set his book bag down on the floor. “I guess I missed you at lunch.”

“I wanted to check if anything else got printed,” she said, waving her hand at her computer.

“And?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Haven’t had the time to check yet,” she told him, “my dad just called.”

“Oh.” He hesitated. “I guess he heard, too?”

“I told him,” she straightened, “he called because Lionel asked to talk to him. About me.”

Oliver straightened his shoulders at that. “Did he say anything else?”

“No. But I don’t like this. Especially if Lionel is somehow involving my dad’s job in this.”

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I’m not sure that’s even legal.”

“And since when does Lionel care about what is or isn’t legal?” She asked.

He pursed his lips, knowing she had a point. “I can talk to him, but I don’t know if it’ll really do any good.”

“You need to talk to him and I will talk to him too if I have to, but I will not let this affect my dad, Oliver.”

“I’ll try,” he said quietly.

“Try hard.” she said, arching her eyebrows, “my dad actually needs this job.”

Oliver winced at that. “Right.” He nodded a little and turned toward the door once more, picking up his bag off the floor.

Her stomach dropped a little when he turned to go and she pursed her lips together, but didn’t stop him.

“See you later,” he said quietly, opening the door and leaving without glancing back at her again.

Chloe sighed and dropped on the computer chair to look at her laptop, shaking her head a little. Best day ever.

* * *

Oliver went straight to the Luthor mansion after school, making his way into the study and pausing for a moment when he saw Lionel sitting at his desk. “Can we talk?”

Lionel looked up from his computer and leaned back against his chair, “we most certainly can.”

He pursed his lips and moved farther into the room. “I know I left without permission yesterday, but I just wanted to blow off some steam.”

“Clearly you did.” He said, “and not alone this time.”

He forced himself to take a deep breath. “I apologize. It won’t happen again.”

“It most certainly won’t,” he crossed his hands over the desk, “but I’ve taken care of it for you this time.”

“What does that mean?” he asked wearily.

“Now, Oliver,” he sat up, “you can’t be expected to behave and yet you expect to speak with you like an adult?” He shook his head.

His jaw tightened ever-so-slightly. “None of this was Chloe’s fault. She didn’t even know where I was taking her.”

“I never thought it would be her fault,” he said, “a shame to see a bright girl like Chloe have her name dragged down like this.”

Oliver looked away at that. “Is there anything you can do about the crap the Inquisitor printed?”

“As I said, it has been taken care of.” He turned his attention back to his computer, “now try and think of the consequences for your actions next time, Oliver.”

“I will,” he answered, turning and heading for the door once again.

* * *

The next morning, Oliver grabbed the paper on his way out to his car and froze in place when he caught sight of the small article on the front page of the Planet.

”Oliver has been devastated at the loss of his last guardian and unfortunately, allowed himself to be talked into illegal activities due to the unsavory young woman who had accompanied him to Metropolis,” Lionel Luthor stated in a telephone conference.

“What the hell?” he said aloud, disbelief in his tone.

A second later, Chloe drove up to the mansion, parking right next to Oliver’s car and getting out of her own.

He glanced up and swallowed hard as she stalked toward him, a paper clutched tightly in her hand. “I just saw it,” he told her, shaking his head.

“And this is your idea of fixing it?” She demanded.

“I talked to him!” he said, frowning. “You think I’m okay with this?”

“What have you got to lose? He completely cleared your name and my dad just told me Lionel demoted him! Made him assistant manager at the factory because ‘he needs to spend more time with his troubled teenage daughter’!”

He stared at her. “I’ll talk to him again,” he began.

“I see how much good that did.” She said angrily, “or were you just trying to cover your own ass?”

“Cover my own...” He shook his head, narrowing his eyes. “I’m not the enemy here! I told Lionel none of this was your fault, and I even apologized to him!”

“Obviously you didn’t try hard enough!”

“I’m sorry! I did try! He said he’d take care of it! I didn’t know he meant like this!”

“And you just took his word for it!?” She asked in disbelief, “thanks, Oliver. For trying.” She said with sarcasm.

“What is it you’d like me to do, Chloe?” he asked, shaking his head. “It’s not like I have any control over what Lionel says and does!”

“I don’t know, Oliver! It’s your name he’s trying to clear up and he’s ruining my dad’s career for it! Do you think that’s fair?”

“Of course not!” he said angrily.

“Then figure it out!” She yelled, then turned around and headed back to her car.

He stared after her, feeling like she’d slapped him across the face.

Lex made his way down the stairs just as Chloe drove off, a smirk on his lips, "trouble in paradise?"

“Fuck off, Lex,” he muttered, tossing the paper down on the ground and storming off toward his car.

His expression changed to one of anger, “no, you listen.” He said, walking after him. “I don’t know how you talked her into going with you, but you better leave her alone.”

He turned to face the bald kid once more, narrowing his eyes. “Mind your own business,” he ordered.

Lex lifted his arm and pressed it against Oliver’s neck, pushing him back against his car, his jaw tight, “leave my friends alone. You’re not killing another one of them, Queen.”

He was unprepared for the sudden movement, but he moved just as quickly, shoving Lex backwards and off of him, hard, glaring. “Then maybe they should know the truth about what happened to Duncan. What do you think? Bet they’d just love to hear all about how you were the one who beat the hell out of him. That it was you he was trying to get away from when that car hit him. His one and only friend turned on him like it was nothing at all and he died because of that betrayal.”

His eyes narrowed as he straightened himself, stepping toward Oliver once more but keeping his distance, “you’re the one who made my life and his hell, Queen. Duncan is dead because of you, I don’t care what kind of bullshit you make yourself believe but Chloe and Clark won’t be next.”

“Stay out of my way, Lex. Or your friends are going to get the truth, and so is the rest of the school,” he said harshly, grabbing his car keys out of his pocket and climbing into his car without waiting for a response. He started the engine and peeled out of the driveway, kicking up dust with his back tires.


End file.
